If you are running an NDIS registered provider organisation and your knowledge of the NDIS pricing guide stops at the annual 1 July update, you are already behind. The NDIS funding model has shifted in ways that go well beyond rate adjustments, and many providers are still operating on outdated assumptions about how pricing works, when it changes, and what it means for their bottom line.
This post breaks down what has changed, what is coming, and what registered providers need to know right now.
The Document That Changed Its Name (And Why That Matters)
Most providers still refer to the “NDIS price guide.” That name no longer exists. The document is now formally called the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, or PAPL. This is not a minor rebranding. The change reflects a broader shift in how the NDIA frames pricing — not as a simple rate card, but as a comprehensive set of rules governing how price controls work across the scheme.
If your team is still searching for an “NDIS price guide 2026” or asking where to download the “NDIS pricing guide,” they need to be redirected to the Pricing Arrangements page on ndis.gov.au. Referencing the wrong document — or an outdated version — creates real compliance risk when lodging payment requests or setting service agreements.
How NDIS Pricing Changes Actually Work
There are two mechanisms through which NDIS pricing changes occur, and understanding both is essential.
The first is the Annual Pricing Review. Each year, the NDIA conducts a structured review using market data, research, and sector consultation to set price limits for the following financial year. Changes from the Annual Pricing Review take effect on 1 July. This is the process most providers are aware of.
The second mechanism is out-of-cycle updates. Outside the Annual Pricing Review process, the NDIA makes regular updates to the Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits to ensure alignment with current policy. These can happen at any point during the year. The most recent example was the November 2025 update, when a revised version of the PAPL (v1.1) came into effect on 24 November 2025. That update included changes to art and music therapy price limits, updates to the Assistive Technology, Home Modifications and Consumables Code Guide, and the removal of the COVID Addendum.
Providers who only check the NDIS pricing guide at the start of the financial year will miss these mid-year NDIS pricing updates entirely. That is an operational risk.
What Changed in the 2025-26 NDIS Pricing Guide
The 2025-26 PAPL introduced several significant changes to ndis funding rules that providers need to have embedded in their systems.
State and territory differential pricing was removed for supports delivered by Physiotherapists and Psychologists, establishing national price limits from 1 July 2025. For providers in Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory, and Tasmania, this resulted in a net reduction in price limits. For providers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory, price limits for these disciplines were aligned accordingly. If your organisation delivers physiotherapy or psychology supports, you need to have reviewed how this affected your pricing.
Therapy travel claiming was restructured. Therapists can now only claim travel time at no more than 50 per cent of the applicable therapy price limit on a pro rata basis. Previously, full hourly rate claiming for travel was common. This change directly affects service delivery models for providers offering home-based or community therapy, and has prompted some providers to reconsider outreach arrangements. Providers can still charge for non-labour costs such as tolls and vehicle wear and tear, which remains unchanged.
Disability Support Worker related supports were indexed by 3.95 per cent in line with the minimum wage increase under the Social, Community, Home Care, and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 and the Superannuation Guarantee. This adjustment is calculated using the NDIS Disability Support Worker Cost Model, which estimates the fully loaded cost of delivering a billable hour of support. If you have not reviewed the updated cost model, your pricing strategy may not reflect the current basis for price limit calculations.
The early childhood approach was extended. The eligible age range for early childhood supports was expanded from under 7 to under 9 years. This is a direct change to ndis funding rules that expands who providers can support under those items.
Conflict of interest obligations were formalised in the document. The 2025-26 PAPL includes new text explaining provider responsibilities and the duty to declare and manage any conflict of interest. This sits alongside registration obligations and should be built into governance frameworks, not treated as a footnote.
What Is Coming: The 2026-27 Annual Pricing Review
The consultation period for the 2025-26 Annual Pricing Review — which will inform ndis pricing changes taking effect from 1 July 2026 — closed on 8 February 2026. The NDIA has indicated that recommendations from that review will be released ahead of the new financial year, reflecting a commitment to giving providers and participants more lead time to prepare.
Final price limits for Disability Support Worker related supports for 2026-27 will be released after the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage decision, expected in mid-June 2026, with the updated ndis price guide 2026 taking effect from 1 July 2026.
This timeline matters for workforce planning, service agreement reviews, and budget modelling. Providers should not be waiting until July to understand what has changed.
The NDIA published its three-year pricing workplan in December 2025, outlining a sequenced, evidence-based approach to improving how NDIS pricing supports participant outcomes and market sustainability. The workplan builds year on year, with the first year delivering targeted improvements while laying the groundwork for longer-term pricing reform through research and pilot programs. This signals that changes to the NDIS funding model are not one-off adjustments — they are part of a longer-term reform trajectory that providers need to be planning for now.
Why Providers Keep Getting Caught Out
The most common gap we see in provider organisations is not a failure to comply once they know about a change. It is a failure to maintain the systems that would alert them to changes in the first place.
The NDIS pricing guide is a living document. The NDIA updates it outside of the Annual Pricing Review cycle. The Support Catalogue — which lists all available support items, current and previous price limits, and applicable claim types — is also updated throughout the year. Providers need a process for monitoring these updates, not just a calendar reminder for 1 July.
A second gap is at the service agreement level. When ndis price changes take effect, service agreements that reference specific price limits may need to be reviewed and updated. Providers who are not auditing their service agreements in response to PAPL updates are potentially holding participants to outdated terms.
The third gap is training. Frontline coordinators and plan managers need to understand not just that prices have changed, but why the NDIS funding model uses price limits, how the Support Catalogue interacts with claiming rules, and what the implications are for different management types. NDIA-managed participants must use registered providers who claim within price limits. Plan-managed participants have access to unregistered providers and may negotiate below the price limit. Self-managed participants operate under different rules again. These distinctions have direct consequences for how support is documented and claimed.
What Registered Providers Should Do Now
Download the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2025-26 v1.1 from ndis.gov.au and confirm your team is working from this version, not a previous one.
Review the NDIS Support Catalogue 2025-26 v1.1 against your current service offering. Confirm that all support items you are using are current, that claim types are correctly applied, and that price limits have not changed in ways that affect your agreements.
Monitor the Pricing Updates page on ndis.gov.au regularly — not just at the start of each financial year. Sign up to NDIA provider notifications so that out-of-cycle NDIS pricing updates reach you before they affect your claims.
Start preparing for 1 July 2026. The 2026-27 APR recommendations will be released in the coming months. Build a review process that allows you to assess the impact of ndis pricing changes on your cost model, service agreements, and workforce arrangements before the changes take effect, not after. If your compliance systems are not currently set up to absorb regular NDIS funding changes without disruption, now is the time to address that gap. The NDIS funding model is not static, and providers who treat it as such are carrying more risk than they realise.
